Black Gold, Texas Tea; 2 Kings 4:1-7
I believe that every one of us remember the Beverly Hillbillies, most of us grew up watching Jed and all his kin. It was a great show and very realistic, right! Well it may not have been realistic but it was a good show. Could you imagine going out into the woods and hunting for food but instead you strike oil? Hard to believe but on the show that’s exactly what happened to Jed Clampett.
Do you remember in the theme song what they called oil? Black gold, Texas tea… That’s the title of our sermon today.
We may never be as lucky as Jed Clampett, we may never strike oil, we may never have more than what we need to get us through the week – but there’s good news…
There is a hymn that says, “Be not dismayed, what’re betide, God will take care of you.” God never promises us that if we put our trust in Him that He is going to make us rich. He never promises that He is going to give us everything we want. He never says that we are going to strike oil. But when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior we have riches beyond what this world can give.
In fact 1 Timothy 6:17, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” The riches of this world are uncertain. Here today and gone tomorrow. But through Christ we are given the riches of God’s glory, wisdom, mercy, and grace. You see in Christ we are given true riches.
So even though we may never strike oil, we have something of far greater value.
But there is a story in the Bible about a widow that did strike oil because she trusted God completely. By the way, do you know what a widow is? A little boy once said, “A widow is a woman that lived with her husband so long that he died.”
Today I want to take a look at this woman and see what God did in her life because of her obedience.
1. Her Dilemma
Maria Ricker said, “Widows are divided into two classes, the bereaved and the relieved.” It doesn’t take long to see that this is a woman who was bereaved. In fact in Vs.1a, “A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD.’”
Obviously this woman is grieving over the loss of her husband. A man that she loved, a man that loved her. I can’t imagine what it must be like to loose someone that you are so closed to, someone you loved and depended on, but I have talked to and counseled with some that have. They are at a loss as to what to do, where to go, how to handle all of the daily affairs of life. They felt hopeless and helpless. And I have no doubt this widow woman felt the same way.
Now there was some comfort in knowing that he loved the Lord and he had a home in heaven. She knew that he was in a better place because she had hope and hope is a wonderful thing. Hebrews 6:19, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” The hope of eternal life - Death is not the end. It’s just a passing from this life to the next.
A bank in New York sent some flowers to a competitor who had recently moved into a new building. There was a mix up at the flower shop, and the card sent with the arrangement read, “With our deepest sympathy.” The florist, was embarrassed, and apologized. But he was even more embarrassed when he realized that the card intended for the bank was attached to a floral arrangement sent to a funeral home. That card read, “Congratulations on you new location!”
That’s what happens when we die, our soul departs this body and it moves on to a new location. We will no longer have a physical body; in Christ we will have a spiritual body. One that doesn’t get sick or old and will never die. This man had passed on and had now received his spiritual body, he was in heaven with God – because he was a man that feared the Lord.
Knowing your loved one is with God is a comfort, but it does not do away with the feeling of loss. No doubt she cried because she was mourning... But she was also crying because of her dilemma…
Apparently she had bills that she could not pay. In Vs.1b she says, “And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” She was in debt and had no way to pay the debtors so they were going to take her sons, probably to do manual labor so that they could work off the debt. Can you imagine what that would be like? Someone could just come and take your kids away because you can’t pay the bills.
It may not be that bad today –but debt can be a major problem – in fact many families have been torn apart because of it. I saw a statistic that said that 56% of marriages that end in divorce are largely because of debt.
Enslaving family members for collateral, was a common practice in the ancient Near East. Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, the creditors came to take her sons away.
Could you imagine the pain she must have felt. Her husband died and left them in debt and now the creditors are taking her children. We think we have problems with creditors, these men were heartless. Talk about a bad day. Her situation looked hopeless…
Maybe you have faced a situation where you felt hopeless. Remember there is always hope and hope is like an anchor for our soul.
2. Her Decision
Now that her husband was dead and the creditors were going to take her children she felt all alone she wondered what she going to do. How was she going to pay?
She didn’t run to the bank to get a loan, or to have her debt consolidated, or apply for a Visa, M. Card or Am. Express. She didn’t go to her friends, neighbors to borrow some money; she went to the prophet of God because she knew that God had the solution to her problem.
And I want you to know that whatever problem you face in life, God’s word has the answer. Now I don’t mean to minimize the problems that you may face. There are no easy answers, but there are answers. As we apply the principles of the word of God in our lives and deal with the problems, we will see victory!
A. She trusted God for the answer - Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know”. There are people that go to God only when they need help. There are people that call on the church only when they want a hand out, there are people that turn to God when life is a mess but when all is well they turn back to their old ways.
That’s not the case here. She loved God, she trusted God, and now she had no one to turn to but God.
And you know what, that’s not such a bad place to be. In fact God wants to bring every one of us to the point where we stop depending on our own strength and start depending on His. 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul’s thorn in the flesh… “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
We would be so much better off in life if we would completely depend on God. That’s what this women did and God was going to work a miracle through her.
B. She Believed God Had a plan – If you’re trying to make sense out of the circumstances of life and can’t figure it out, take comfort in this, “God already has a plan.” You may not be aware of it, But He has a plan. And that was true with this woman as well. Notice Vs.2, “So Elisha said to her, ‘What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?’”
Before revealing the plan, Elisha asks two questions:
1. What do you need? – Duh! I just told you I’m in debt and the creditors are going to take my children away --- I need help paying off my debt.
2. What do you have? – Hello! Nothing of value, if I did do you think I would be coming to you. These seem like obvious questions but did you know that God does the same with us. It’s not that He doesn’t know what we need or have, He just wants us to make our requests. He wants us to communicate our needs to Him.
James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” God wants us to call on Him with all our needs. In answer to Elisha’s question: All she had was a pot of oil.
Now listen… the answer to our problem does not lie in what we possess, but in what we perceive. It does not lie in what we experience, but it what we expect. In fact, the reason we don’t see God move in our lives like this is because we don’t expect Him to. We say we believe HE can, and we believe HE wants to, but we don’t believe that HE will to the extent that we follow His plan. Not this woman…
C. She Obeyed His Command Vs.3-5, “Then he said, ‘Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.’ So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out.”
It’s amazing how many people want God to change their life, but are completely unwilling to be obedient to the instruction’s He gives in order for change to take place.
James 2:17, “Faith without works is dead.” YOU CANNOT SEPARATE THE TWO.
If this woman heard the command but did nothing her needs would not have been meet, but she obeyed, she went out and got as many jars as she could find and that’s why God blessed her with black gold, Texas tea, enough oil to pay off the debtors and take care of her and her sons.
3. Her Delight
Vs.6-7, “Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, ‘Bring me another vessel.’ And he said to her, ‘There is not another vessel.’ So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.’”
God did what only God can do. He went above and beyond all of her understanding. Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know”.
I can just see her as she begins to do what the man of God has commanded her to do. She begins to fill pots of oil out of the only pot of oil that she possessed. Then another. And another. And another. And another. And another. And it just keeps coming.
That makes me think of what David said in Psalm 23:5, “My Cup runs over.”
That’s what God desires to do in our lives. He wants to bless us beyond measure. John 10:10, “I have come that (you) may have life, and that (you) may have it more abundantly.” God’s plan is not that we just make it through life. His plan is not that we just make it through another day. His plan is to bless us beyond measure. WHY? So we can be a blessing…
Of coarse that doesn’t mean that we are going to strike gold or even get rich. God’s blessings are far greater than financial things. He gives us a joy unspeakable and full of glory, a peace that passes all understanding, and hope that stands sure when the world is crumbling around us.
He wants us to be rich in His glory, wisdom, grace, mercy, etc…
I’m not saying that if you are a person of faith, and you face a great dilemma in life, and you put feet on your faith that God is going to do something as miraculous as this. But what He does will be above and beyond what you could ever imagine, because He cares for you.
God not only provided for this widow’s immediate needs, but He also made provision for her long-term needs as well. That’s what God has done for us… I hope you know that God has a great retirement plan. Social security can’t scratch it, an IRA can’t match it, and the stock market can’t crash it. He not only gives us abundant life, He gives us eternal life.
Conclusion: 1 Timothy 6:17-19, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
